


Oak Tree

by brokenbutstillstanding



Series: Gold Rush [2]
Category: The Hobbit (Jackson Movies), The Hobbit - All Media Types, The Hobbit - J. R. R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings (Movies), The Lord of the Rings - All Media Types, The Lord of the Rings - J. R. R. Tolkien
Genre: Angst, Other, The Arkenstone - Freeform, This Is Sad, dead bilbo, gold-sickness, thorin is depressed
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-03
Updated: 2021-02-03
Packaged: 2021-03-14 07:42:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 697
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29167494
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/brokenbutstillstanding/pseuds/brokenbutstillstanding
Summary: A sequel to Weight in Gold.Thorin chooses the Arkenstone.
Relationships: Bilbo Baggins & Thorin Oakenshield, Bilbo Baggins/Thorin Oakenshield
Series: Gold Rush [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2141181
Comments: 1
Kudos: 28





	Oak Tree

No one in the Company could look at him anymore.

He didn’t blame them.

He’d covered the silver floor length mirror in his own chambers, unable to even look at himself. 

When his mind had cleared of the gold-lust for the second time the first thing he did was order the Arkenstone to be destroyed, heritage be damned. It was far more trouble than it was worth.

It still wouldn’t bring Bilbo back.

Bilbo, who he had allowed Azog to drop over the side of that cliff like he was nothing. Like a mere stone was worth more than him.

Even his own nephews avoided him, and when they couldn’t they were as stiff and polite as the rest of his advisors. He’d only seen the back of Dwalin since the incident, the dwarf turning tail and striding as far away as he could get when he saw him coming. Almost like he didn’t trust what he would do if he came face to face with his King.

He truly thought Dwalin would shove him over the cliff after Bilbo the second the Orc’s fingers let him go. After Thorin had made his choice. If it weren’t for Fili and Kili he might have. More days than not Thorin wishes he had. He would give all of Erebor if it meant he could turn back the hands of time and make a different choice. 

But he could not.

The rest of the Company were almost worse. The ones who hadn’t been there. Balin was the only one who sought him out for an explanation, though the one Thorin gave was lacking. Gold-sickness was no excuse. There wasn’t one.

He hadn’t attended the funeral. Although the chasm was too deep for them to recover a body (and it likely would have been mangled or half-eaten by wild animals by the time they did as Nori had pointed out) they still held one for him. Thorin commanded that he be laid to rest in the crypt of the royal family, after all he’d done he deserved far more than that.

The day of the ceremony was quiet. Even those who had never met Bilbo knew the gravity of what one strange Hobbit had done for them all.

Thorin stayed in his quarters with the better half of the ale they had in storage (Bombur had brought it to him. The first kindness he’d received from any of them since the incident). He wouldn’t be welcome, that much he knew.

It seemed to make things worse. Kili was the one to ask.

“Why?”

His nephew’s arms were crossed, feet apart in a solid stance that screamed of confrontation.

“I did not deserve to be there. I do not deserve to be here.” He slurred through his drunken haze.

He did not like it. It reminded him too much of the underwater feeling of being gold-sick. 

He didn’t notice Kili’s face soften ever so slightly. He didn’t feel his hand on his shoulder and the sigh before the younger dwarf turned to leave. All he felt was numbness and a deep-rooted sense of hatred.

Balin had ensured what happened stayed between the Company, but he could hear what his people were saying about him.

Gold-sick.

Ungrateful.

Wouldn’t even attend his own friend’s funeral.

He couldn’t bring himself to care. He couldn’t bring himself to care when Bombur began bringing him meals in his rooms as he no longer ate in the dining hall. He couldn’t bring himself to feel anything when Kili and Fili elected to quietly do their paperwork with him, saying nothing but speaking volumes. He did not experience the hope or elation he should have when Dwalin joined him in the training field one day, silently falling into line as he had always done. When Ori left a newly made scarf on his bed as Winter fell. As Balin took on his responsibilities on days he could barely move, or Óin’s frequent check-ups.

He felt nothing anymore. 

And somewhere at the bottom of a chasm an acorn fell from a Hobbit’s pocket and eventually, fertilized by decay and bones mixed with soil, bloomed into a great oak tree.


End file.
